Forum:Canadian Election
Hey ML4E, who won the 2011 Election? What where the hot topics and such? Mr Nelg Oh good, this is where I should put this previous discussion: From Talk:Liberal Party (UK) ::::If you'd like to share your opinions about the vote and upcoming elections, ML4E, I am curious. If not, don't feel pressured. TR 00:16, March 26, 2011 (UTC) :::::At the moment I am unsure as I was of the opinion that one of the opposition parties would back down and the minority government would muddle along since the Conservatives are ahead at the polls. Most commentators think that the election won't change things much, that it will be another minority Conservative government but the snap opinion polls just after the non-confidence vote suggest they may get a slight majority. ML4E 16:46, March 26, 2011 (UTC) ::::Just yesterday, when I was looking up the above lists, I read the little blurb on the Conservative Party of Canada and thought Hmm, he's been in office pretty long for the head of a minority government. Turtle Fan 04:08, March 26, 2011 (UTC) :::::There was an election two and a half years ago where the Conservatives gained a few seats so it technically is two governments, both Conservative. A lifespan of 2-3 years is typical for minority governments so this isn't as surprising as it might first seem. This is one reason that some are suggesting a majority Conservative government, that voters are getting tired of the shenanigans of a minority parliament, the posturing and going to the polls every couple of years. ML4E 16:46, March 26, 2011 (UTC) ::::::I can see where a minority government would get tiresome. I guess the nearest equivalent in US politics would be divided government, with one party in the White House and the other in the Capitol, like we have now. (Well, technically we've only got half of that, but between low Democratic morale throughout the Hill and McConnell's insistence on filibustering everything this side of a motion to adjourn, we might as well.) ::::::Any possibility of the Bloc and the NDP taking a page from the Nick Clegg playbook and entering a coalition with the Liberals? I know they'd never enter a coalition with the Conservatives, though that point would be moot if the Conservatives do indeed win a majority. Turtle Fan 21:52, March 26, 2011 (UTC) :::::Harper is using this as some sort of scary, undemocratic conspiracy even though he talked about the same thing in an attempt to bring down the Paul Martin minority government. For some strange reason this is gaining some traction among voters. ML4E 19:45, March 27, 2011 (UTC) ::::::A party leader is changing his tune based on what is in his party's short term advantage? I'm apalled!! ::::::By the way, when was the last majority government? Chretien? Turtle Fan 20:14, March 27, 2011 (UTC) :::::That's right. Martin served as PM for the last year or so under Chretien's mandate much the same way Brown did with Blair's and then called an election. Unlike Brown, the Liberals had the most seats in the minority parliament so Martin remained PM. This was when Harper tried to form his own coalition. Martin's government lasted about a year and then was defeated on a non-confidence vote. The election resulted with the Conservatives with the most seats and Martin announced his resignation as PM election night. :::::About a year and a half later, Harper called a snap election even though he had not lost a confidence vote and had passed legislation setting fixed elections every four years. It resulted in another minority government with the Conservatives gaining about 10 seats. Dion, Martin's successor as Liberal leader did not challenge the Conservatives continuing to govern but when the budget was introduced a month later he did. He came up with a coalition with the NDP and an agreement from the Bloc to support the new government (but not be formally part of it) and stated he would visit the G-G to offer to form a new government as soon as the Conservatives lost a non-confidence motion he would introduce ASAP. :::::Harper flipped out, calling it an attempted coup against the will of the people, blah, blah blah. However, the public bought it and the support for the Liberals plummeted. This was probably because they needed the support of the separatist Bloc to be viable which disgusted people even though the previous Conservative government survived because the Bloc sided with them on several confidence votes. This boogeyman seems to still exist, at least Harper's has been going on about coalitions for the first two days of election campaigning. ML4E 04:20, March 28, 2011 (UTC) Post-Election Debrief Somehow I wasn't able to look up the blog you're doing, ML4E, but Election Day is this week, isn't it? Turtle Fan 01:22, May 5, 2011 (UTC) :Since I hadn't done anything with it you didn't miss anything. Yes, the election was Monday, May 2 with the Conservatives winning a slight but solid majority and the NDP forming the official opposition. The results were (2011/2008): :Con. 167/143 :Lib. 034/77 :NDP 102/30 :Bloc. 004/48 :Ind. nil/4 :And, for the first time, one seat for the Green Party. The collapse of the Liberals was surprising and the collapse of the Bloc shocking. The polls going into the election showed a surge for the NDP but no one predicted this. I guess that's why they hold elections ;-) ML4E 17:43, May 5, 2011 (UTC) ::Wow! That's quite a gain for the NDP. But I guess the Conservatives have a majority now? Looks like the no-confidence vote badly backfired on the Liberals; I don't follow Canadian politics all that closely but I never would have thought they'd be a distant third. Turtle Fan 18:45, May 5, 2011 (UTC) :That's right, they needed 155 seats for a majority so the Conservatives are solidly in control. The polls in the last week of the campaign indicated a surging NDP and declining Liberal and Block but no one predicted these results. There was some speculation that the NDP would get more seats than the Liberals and that if a coalition formed Jack Layton, the NDP leader, might head it but not a complete collapse that actually happened. Likewise with the Bloc, some predicted their seat total might be cut in half but not the near total wipe out that actually occurred. ML4E 16:48, May 7, 2011 (UTC) ::Got any theories as to what went wrong/right, depending on a person's affiliation? Turtle Fan 00:32, May 8, 2011 (UTC) :::The general consensus is that Layton did well in the two leaders debates (one in English, the other in French). Ignatieff (leader of the Liberals) was wooden and the Conservatives had painted him as out for himself in attack ads from before the election while Layton was the most relaxed and homey, the guy you'd want to have a beer with. So for English Canada the anti-Harper vote moved to the NDP. Quebec is the most left leaning province in Canada but the Independence question has dominated the debate for years. (I just realized it came to the fore in the 1960s so its been the main issue for half a century!) The Liberals were the prominent federalists so elections were between them and the separatists. Last election Quebec voters flirted with the Conservatives but were turned off by some of their policies over the last parliament and so seemed to turn to the NDP instead. Likewise the mildly separatists seemed to have finally had enough of the issue for the moment and abandoned the Bloc for the NDP too. ML4E 19:27, May 8, 2011 (UTC) ::::I saw one clip of the leaders and I also had that impression of Layton. A shame people let that sway their votes; if you're worried that a given PM/President/whatever is going to be unpleasant socially when compared with his opponents, never fear: The people who worry about these things generally don't get invited to state dinners. Turtle Fan 23:34, May 8, 2011 (UTC) :::: ::::Oh, okay. So basiclly the Conservities won. But still, it's not as interesting as the Australian 2010 Election. Mr Nelg :::::Australia had an election last year? I knew Rudd had lost the Labor leadership. Did what's-her-name call a snap election so she wouldn't come down with a case of Gordon Brownitis? Who won? :::::Also, anyone know whether the Brits decided to give up first past the post voting in favor of the Aussie system? I kind of like the Aussie system myself. Too bad I do my voting in a country where everyone who's neither Republican nor Democrat is almost invariably a complete joke. We've had three-way elections--Alaska's Senate race last year, for instance, and an off-term election for a House seat in New York much earlier in '10, sort of, and a Senate race in Connecticut in '06 when I was living there. But I've never voted in a general election with more than two vital candidates, though I guess it would be useful for our primaries. Turtle Fan 03:17, May 9, 2011 (UTC) ::::: ::::: Who won? There was a hung parliament. Both parties had to woo the independents and it all came down to three (dubbed the Three Amigo’s by thee press.) One went with The Coalition (Conservatives,) while the other two went with Labor, (Liberals,) and the Greens giving them the power to form a minority government. The problem is that they don't have enough seats to form a government, so they had to form a minority government with both the Independents and the Greens. However, the Greens are suffering an ego trip due to their rise in popularity, there for they believe they have the right to dictate policy which has led to nothing but problems; hence the bloodycarbon tax. Mr Nelg